Large Opinel

[Cliff Stamp]

After recently buying a Cold Steel Twistmaster I went looking for an Opinel which is what the Twistmaster is based on, or at the very least heavily influenced the design. I had used Opinels in the past and recall being very impressed with the cutting ability. I was curious just how they would compare to the modern high end version of the same blade. Lee Valley sells them, and they are quite cheap so I picked up a few. There was no difference among the ones I received fit and finish wise and I kept one large one, and gave the others away to a few friends to get their impressions. A shot of the Opinel alongside the large drop point Twistmaster :

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/images/opinel.jpg

The only real problem was that the edge while having a suitable geometry for a fine cutting knife, was not finished well. Under magnification revealed basically a rough shaping with no polish - it was very blunt NIB. However considering the geometry was right where I would want it, the fact that I had to sharpen it was only a minor problem. To be specific the blade stock is ~3/32 and the primary grind was full flat at about ~3.2 degrees. The edge bevel was barely existent, the blade was only 0.002-0.004" thick behind the bevel which was just wide enough to see. I cleaned up the edge on some sandpaper, less than 100 passes including the final buffing. It polished to a fine shaving edge. If you are using a rod based system, you will need to go very light, as some experimentation showed that the edge tends to roll rather easily.

Basically we have a knife ground out of thin blade stock with a near optimal grind for high performance deep cuts. For awhile I just used it for all manner of cutting. The work ranged from paper and cardboard cutting, to fine and rough wood work, as well as significant amounts of food preparation on meats and vegetables. The blade excelled at all tasks. It easily for example out cut the Twistmaster from Cold Steel, and in fact is pretty much the highest performing blade in that class I have ever used - which is no surprise as the blade geometry is about as extreme as you can get, with one minor modification which I'll mention later.

Does it have any drawbacks? Well yes, the rather obvious one is that the durability is rather low. It would not be a blade to be used for any kind of heavy impact work nor prying and that sort of thing. Along those lines the lock is also rather weak. For example while it can be used to lock the blade in the handle which is a nice feature, a couple of times I had it locked and forgot to unlock it and just went ahead and opened the blade popping the locking ring off. It just pops back on as its elastic. Experimenting with trying to force the blade closed when locked didn't leave me impressed with its raw strength either. Basically I would view this just as a light use folder only, heavy dynamic cutting would be dangerous.

The handle is just wood, and quite slick. The Kraton grip on the Twistmaster for example is far more secure. However considering the type of use that this knife will typically get, this doesn't actually stand out as much of a functional disadvantage. For even heavy work it is ergonomic, no discomfort. I do have a friend however who uses a large Opinel as a fillet knife and he had to have the handle checkered to allow it to be functional when handling a large amount of cod in a hurry. As well, this isn't a handle that you would want to be pounding on or with, but again considering the type of use that the blade is intended for, I don't see this as a problem.

The other big question is in regards to the edge holding. From what I have read the steel is ~1075 and the RC hardness is only moderate. However even with a low edge retention, considering that the cutting performance is so high, the lifetime of the cutting ability is very long, unless you are cutting very abrasive materials. It holds up very well on standard hemp testing, more on that below. And of course it grinds very easily. The combination of a very acute and thin edge with an easily machinable steel allows the blade to be restored very easily on even soft natural hones. The only real problem is that it will burr easily because it is soft.

Some specific tests on cutting ability on 3/8" hemp :

Fine finish, stropped, push cut : 12.5 +/- 0.3 lbs
Fine finish, ceramic, slice : 10.5 +/- 0.5 lbs
Medium finish, 600 DMT, slice : 9.5 +/- 0.5 lbs

The slicing cuts were done with a 22 degree micro bevel, about 0.1mm wide. This is just the result of a few passes on a fine ceramic and 600 DMT rod, fixed in a rod type system. The push cutting was done after stropping and had no micro bevel so it was slightly convex starting from about 8-10 degrees and ending at 12-14 degrees near the edge.

This level of cutting ability really needs to be experienced in order to be understood. With the amount of force under 10 lbs, slices through the hemp seem to be parting the rope like water. For comparison, this is far above the ability of the Twistmaster which takes 25 +/- 2 lbs to push cut the hemp with the same stropped finish. I have seen knives that required 250+ lbs to push cut the same rope.

Trying out some hardwood dowel revealed even more impressive performance. The Opinel would cut a point off of a 1" hard wood dowel in less than two slices (~1.5) . The best I had seen previously was ~5 cuts with the MEUK from Blade/Caffrey. For reference the Twistmaster from Cold Steel takes ~12 slices.

Back to edge holding, I did some work on 3/8" hemp. Slices were done over 2" of blade length on a pine block.

With a fine ceramic finish (22 degree micro bevel), the initial performance was ~80 g on the thread, 0.28 cm on the poly, and ~11 lbs on the hemp. After 62 cuts the blade took over 4 cm to cut through 1/4" poly under a 1000 g load, over 300 g to cut light thread, and needed ~20 lbs to slice through the hemp. The blade was well past shaving sharp and fails to be able to do any fine work well. It responds very well to steeling, and just a few passes on a smooth steel returns it to shaving sharp.

When the cutting was ran again with the fine DMT finish (22 degree micro bevel). The initial performance now was 153 g on the thread, 0.5 cm on the poly, and ~10 lbs on the hemp. It now took 126 cuts on the hemp to get the same increase in force on the thread and the hemp cutting, and 254 cuts to see the same loss of aggression on the poly. The blade still responded to steeling well after the 254 cuts, returning to shaving sharp and back to near optimal levels of cutting ability on the thread, poly and hemp.

[the steeled edge blunts significantly quicker than the original edge for everything not just this knife]

Finally, in regards to corrosion resistance, this is just a plain carbon steel and thus will patina quite quickly and as well develop rust spots if you are not careful. However over time as the patina darkens, the orange rust will happen less frequently.

Overall I would prefer this over the Twistmaster it is a more coherent design. The Twistmaster is more robust, but not so much that I would use it for really heavy cutting and the higher cutting ability of the Opinel would have be reach for it every time for light use. The only changes I would want would be to put a hollow relief over the primary flat grind, and radically increase the RC on the steel. M2 at say ~64 RC would be very nice, but even 1095 at that RC would be a very solid.

Left to do is some edge retention work on some abrasive material as this is likely a weak point. I also have to figure out a way to put the results of the edge retention in a sensible format as the blunting rate is not linear as thus it is easily misinterpreted.

Ref :

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=175216

-Cliff

 

[DancesWithKnives]

Cliff,

Very interesting (and somewhat surprising) review. Thanks a lot.

On the knives in the picture, is that your version of the Strider tiger striping? (Just kidding!)

 

[Paul Work]

Kraton on a Twist Master?

Flat grind on an Opinel?

Paul

 

[Cliff Stamp]

DancesWithKnives :

... is that your version of the Strider tiger striping?

Its Newfie Cod striping.

Paul, yes the Twistmaster grip is just checkered plastic not Kraton, however the Opinels were flat ground.

-Cliff

 

[storyville]

Nice review, Cliff. I love the keen slicing ability of the Opinels, too. We keep two in the tackle box (and one in every drawer at my home, my folks', brothers', etc., it seems). For better grip, I've lightly sanded the handles with 200-grit paper and coated them with Linseed oil -- makes for durable utility/ small filet knives. They are also the most ergonomic folders I've used, similar to good fixed blade handles rather than flat folder handles. (The latter's greater ease for pocket carry appears to have been universally accepted at the expense of in-hand comfort/security, ... but that's another issue.)

Thanks,
Glen

 

[Paul Work]

When did Opinel start flat gringing? All of mine are convex.

Paul

 

[MAURICE]

mine too.
i have two of em.both are convex,but it is pretty close to flat.

flat or convex, it makes an awesome cutter!

 

[hd2k_va]

Let me see if I got this right, after reading this review and the reference.

Twistmaster, out of box, takes 80g to cut thread. Opinel, after you sharpen it on fine ceramic stones, takes 80g to cut thread. Conclusion: Opinel waaaaay outcuts CS.

In the CS review, you said of the Twistmaster: "I was very pleased with the geometry as it promised very high performance cutting. The edge is highly polished and will push shave hair with both sides the blade sheared nicely through the poly ... It is an interesting profile, you have maximum cutting ability across the middle of the blade with the tip and the base of the blade reinforced for very heavy cutting ... Did this cutting dull the blade? Yes, but only slightly ... so the cutting ability is very high"

This review: You prefer the Twistmaster (even though it supposedly can't cut for cra*) because of its more coherent design. In the CS review you said, "My main problem with the knife is the lock of coherent design."

So the Opinel rolls and blunts easily after just a few cuts. No big surprise since it has darn near the same edge bevel as a straight razor. Also no big surprise that it push cuts nicely when the edge is new.

So you say "The blade excelled at all tasks. It easily for example out cut the Twistmaster from Cold Steel, and in fact is pretty much the highest performing blade in that class I have ever used." Since when has ability to push cut once been the be-all end-all of knife performance? What about the tasks of not rolling and staying sharp? Oh well.

In fact, you like the Opinel's blade so much that the only things you would change about it are the grind, steel, and hardness. You like the rest of the design so well that the only problems you noticed are the handle and the lock. Otherwise, it's the best knife ever. puleez

You get what you pay for with Opinel: A blade with a great convex profile and marginal quality everything else. The may be the world's greatest $10 knives, but the are certainly not the world's greatest all purpose knife period.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

storyville :

For better grip, I've lightly sanded the handles with 200-grit paper and coated them with Linseed oil -- makes for durable utility/ small filet knives.

That is an excellent idea. I have held off on modifying mine for the time being as I want to get some experience with just how problematic the handle will be in its current condition.

They are also the most ergonomic folders I've used, similar to good fixed blade handles rather than flat folder handles.

Yes, the are optimized for use, not ease of carry, similar to most traditional slipjoints.

hd2k_va :

Twistmaster, out of box, takes 80g to cut thread. Opinel, after you sharpen it on fine ceramic stones, takes 80g to cut thread. Conclusion: Opinel waaaaay outcuts CS.

The Twistmaster NIB requires ~110 g and the Opinel after sharpening ~80 g. Thus the Opinel only has a slight advantage over the Twistmaster (to get more specific you would want to look at the variances in each score). However this cutting test is very dependent on sharpness, and only slightly influenced by geometry, and in regards to geometry it is only concerned about edge angle, not edge width, nor primary geometry. When cutting is done that is far more dependent on geometry such as slicing 3/8" hemp, push cutting hardwood dowel, or just any deep cutting in general, the Opinel far out cuts the Twistmaster, many times to one as the edge angle is more acute and the edge is narrower.

This review: You prefer the Twistmaster (even though it supposedly can't cut for cra*) because of its more coherent design. In the CS review you said, "My main problem with the knife is the lock of coherent design."

In the above I stated :

"Overall I would prefer this over the Twistmaster it is a more coherent design. "

This meaning the Opinel which has a more coherent design, meaning all elements have the same goals. The Twistmaster attempts to do a few things that are in contradiction to each other and thus the design is a little incoherent.

So the Opinel rolls and blunts easily after just a few cuts.

I actually expected this, given comments about the steel and the hardness, however the edge retention on hemp was solid. The edge lifetime on the hemp is better than the Cold Steel Twistmaster (NIB), but that is just because the cutting ability of the Opinel was better, not because of inherently higher edge retention. Recently I re-profiled the Twistmaster to get its cutting ability closer to the Opinel. After rerunning the hemp edge retention work they were very similar. One other point I forgot to mention, the hemp edge retention work was ran with the fine ceramic finish as well. With this edge polish, the same loss of cutting ability was seen on the Opinel with only 1/4 of the amount of rope, ~62 cuts.

in reference to my statement :

"The blade excelled at all tasks. It easily for example out cut the Twistmaster from Cold Steel, and in fact is pretty much the highest performing blade in that class I have ever used."

Since when has ability to push cut once been the be-all end-all of knife performance?

As noted, "all tasks" was restricted to cutting, "that class" was a low stress use knife, and performance was specific to how well it push cut and sliced. Edge retention will be moderate on materials that mainly roll edges as the hardness is decent, however as noted, since the cutting ability is high, the lifetime of the cutting ability will be long, even with moderate edge retention as shown in the hemp cutting. Now you will get better edge retention out of really hard steels like 62+RC, but if they don't have the same level of cutting ability, the lifetime of the cutting ability will be lower anyway. The Opinel would however, as noted in the above, do poorly in a wear based comparison, or on some really rough use, the latter being one of its weak points as noted in the above, along with carry issues (no clip, round handle) , easy of one hand operation, low corrosion resistance, etc. ..

-Cliff

 

[hd2k_va]

Your thread on the Twistmaster said it required as little as 80g to cut the thread, NIB. If the Opinel is so much more coherent than the Twistmaster, why do want to change the grind, the heat treat, the hardness, the blade steel, the lock, and the handle? On the one hand, you say the design is great because all design elements have the same goal. On the other hand, you say all the design elements (except the profile) are terrible. If you want an Opinel with a secure lock, grippier, more durable, and more ergonomic handles, stronger lock, pocket clip and rock hard M2 blade ... but a 710

 

[Alarion]

I have various Opinels, some of which I have customized.
None of them had a flat grind. They all are convex ground.
To remove the lock ring to do some of the customization I had to use a vice, a screwdriver as leverage and a lot of sweat.
The carbon steel edge of the ones I have came razor sharp from the factory, and the edge retention was very good. I don't know about rockwell and so on, mind well, I never did a test on anything like that, but I used them for weeks whittling and cutting various things without having any resharpening to do.
From what you say it seems to me that either they have changed production standards or you have got a defective piece.
Mine are N° 8.
The handle actually benefits from a good sanding and lineseed oil or shellack, but the lock is very solid for any normal usage of such a small knife.
Blade hardness sounds good to me, as I've accidentally dropped some of them on stone and only one had it's tip broken and I had to reform it (curiously enough it wasn't a carbon blade but a stainless one).
The only real modifications I did to that knife was altering the lower profile of the locking ring so to allow me to lock the blade both in the open AND close position and to glue some anti skid strip (the one you put on stairs) to the handle, and do a lanyard hole.
Sharpening, heat treatment and lock are as good as they can get.
My Opinels, though, come back from the old '80s
Very good review, anyway
Since they are so inexpensive, you could try to get some others identical to the one you tested from other retailers to see if they really changed something or you were just unlucky.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

hd2k_va :

Your thread on the Twistmaster said it required as little as 80g to cut the thread, NIB.

Yes, however when comparing two samples, you don't use the median of one and the extreme far left of the other. As well, this comparison is as noted inthe above, one which is dependent mainly on sharpness, and thus does not in general strongly reflect the cutting ability.

If the Opinel is so much more coherent than the Twistmaster, why do want to change the grind, the heat treat, the hardness, the blade steel, the lock, and the handle?

A coherent design does not imply anything about the quality of the individual aspects, just that they have similar design goals. The knife could be improved by raising the quality of the materials, and a few tweaks to the design, of course the price would obviously have to go up.

On the other hand, you say all the design elements (except the profile) are terrible.

It is hardly the case that because something can be improved its current condition is "horrible".

[710 axis]

.. an Opinel with a secure lock, grippier, more durable, and more ergonomic handles, stronger lock, pocket clip and rock hard M2 blade ...

And a much lower cutting ability because of the thicker stock, sabre grind, and thick and obtuse edge, and on top of that an underhardned steel, not a coherent design. I am however interested in the lock though and will pick one up eventually.

Regarding the grind issue :

I took a small stone and ground one side which produced an even scratch pattern over the entire bevel showing it was flat. However grinding on the other side showed evidence of a very slight curvature, less than 0.5 degrees, inducing a drop in the tenths of a mm off of full flat, which is why I never picked it up before.

Here is a shot of the complete profile, I could not even pick up the curvature in the measurements except for the top, as it is so slight :

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/images/opinel_blade_profile.gif

That little dent inwards near the top isn't real, it just reflects the scatter in the measurements.

I am going to see if I can't get the blade hardned and if so how that will reflect in the rope cutting.

Alarion :

...altering the lower profile of the locking ring so to allow me to lock the blade both in the open AND close position

The newer ones can do this. Good suggestion about looking at some other ones, the profile on this one is rather odd.

-Cliff

 

[GREENJACKET]

I have a friend who has used the same Opinel for his grallocking for the past 18 years, plus for a whole lot of other chores. It looks as if its done some work. New Opinels need sanding and oiling. If the wood swells then some loosening is require.

I use a penknife, slip lock, a whole lot of the time. For most cutting tasks, with a thin overall blade, thats all thats needed. Let the slim grind do the work, (its what makes machetes so effective). For its not that often that one needs to power cut, so a slip lock is enough. The Opinel system is marginally better, but thats not the point. Force is rarely needed to cut.

If you need force then use a tool thats made for it.

Good test, which shows up a few too many truths.

 

[Jimbo]

Thanks for an awesome review Cliff!

Now I'll just have to get a bunch of new Opinels to try!

It sure is a pity that the flat grind on the TM does not lead all the way to the edge. It's not a knife to use with a baton or such - so cutting efficiency is everything.

Maybe costs wouldn't go up that much with a few improvements on the Opinel. Moras do just fine for me and they're cheap.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Greenjacket :

I use a penknife, slip lock, a whole lot of the time. For most cutting tasks, with a thin overall blade, thats all thats needed. Let the slim grind do the work ...

Yes, most slipjoints will out cut lockblades because quite simply, slipjoints are just designed to cut. This doesn't mean that you can't make a locking folder that cuts as well, just that its rarely done. In general for the vast majority of knife work, I don't need nor want a lock on a folder and the stiffness of a slipjoint is all that is needed. However on occasion, it would be nice to have. The opinel gives very high cutting performance and the lock stability is just a plus. I think I'll do some torquing and such on it later on to see just how and when the lock lets go, I want to pick up a few more anyway to see how consistent the blade grinds are.

Jimbo :

It sure is a pity that the flat grind on the TM does not lead all the way to the edge. It's not a knife to use with a baton or such - so cutting efficiency is everything.

Yes, that was exactly my point about the lack of a coherent design. This knife tries to do a few things when it could, with just a couple of minor changes, do one thing very well. If the grind was extended down, it would pretty much be a directly better Opinel (with a couple of minor points). This is just another case of "tactical" influence. That being said, the Twistmaster does make a much better "beater" or loaner, as the Opinel would get tore up much easier.

I finally got around to reprofiling both knives last night. My Opinel now has a full grind, its full flat on one side and dual convex on the other. No secondary edge bevel. The edge has just a hint of a greater curvature and thus the edge is formed at ~4-5 degrees per side. It only took about 15 minutes of hand work using a coarse belt, the steel is very easy to work. This knife now has the most acute edge of any knife I own. I have left the edge quite coarse (~40 grit ZO), and am very interested in the kinds of numbers that the hemp rope turn up. The cutting ability should be extreme given the profile and the coarseness (microserrations of .1 mm). The very rough finish should also enhance wear resistance, which this needs badly. The only downside may be the low resistance to edge roll, however that is usually counteracted by the lower amount of force needed because of the higher cutting ability.

I also attempted to do the same thing with the Twistmaster, again working by hand as I was curious how long it would take. However after an hour I decided that it was enough and finished up. The steel is much harder to work than the Opinel, which isn't a surprise and I actually had to stop periodically to let the knife cool as it was getting to hot for me to hold onto, and I could smell the plastic melting (I was freehand grinding on a dry abrasive belt). This knife now has pretty much a full bevel on one side with just a hint of an edge bevel on the other side, starting from about 1/4" up, this should have been blended down more for maximum performance. Anyway, the edge is now at a slightly more obtuse angle than the opinel, about 6-7 degrees per side. It has the same very coarse finish as the Opinel, about .1mm microserrations, these are not really "micro" anymore as you can see them along the edge. It will be interesting to see how this holds up on the rope as compared to the Opinel as the cutting abilies are much closer.

After I get the rope cutting done, I'll polish up the edges and get a feel for the cutting ability in general. That's about a month or so off, as I have a few other things to look at. I have been eyeing my Battle Mistress lately as I am really curious how that would cut if I blended the edge way back into the primary grind, it is already at ~10 degrees per side. The only thing that is really keeping me from doing it is that the steel is really hard to grind, a belt for example that chews through A2 won't even spark on INFI. I think I'll work on the Mel Sorg D2 blade I have yet as even as horrendous as D2 is to work, it shapes faster than INFI. Anyone who complaines about the cost of a Battle Mistress compared to an 1095 blade should really try to grind both.

Note, to form a strong edge after the shaping work had been done I switched to ligher strokes and switched from side to side after each pass. This is critical as otherwise the edge will have a huge weak burr. I checked the edge under magnification to insure that the edge was well formed (you can see a burr as the edge will be darker along the top where it has folded over). Interestingly enough, it sort of feels like it is burred *on both sides*, because of how rough the edge is. The microserrations actually have a "set" like saw teeth. I would suppose that all microserrations do, however these ones are just actually large enough to feel. This kind of full bevel grinding does of course really scratch up the finish - but these are not display knives anyway.

-Cliff

 

[chad234]

Cliff,
I found your last post very interesting, I have taken an Opinel (the #8 in my pocket) down to a 20 degree included angle at a fine diamond finish, the cutting performance was exquisite but the edge rolled badly when cutting things like plastic cable ties. I have taken the edge back to 30 degrees included at a fine ceramic finish and have noticed a marked increase in edge holding. (The rolled edge could be steeled straight after each use, but I have found extensive steeling weakens the steel, causing metal failure at the edge)
I have seen an increase in performance from breaking down the shoulder on the edge bevel on different knives (through backbeveling) and it sounds similiar to the work you are doing.
Take care,
Chad

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Chad, you bring up an excellent point in regards to edge angle. The angle of the edge should be chosen to match the material being cut. Right now I am looking at the performance on soft materials like hemp and poly rope, carboard, meats and vegetables, and woods. I am interested in just how far you can go without seeing a performance loss in edge retention due to a lack of strength and the increase you get in cutting ability. Specific to the above last post, that is about the limit in a working knife. In order to go thinner, you would have to go with a thinner (or more narrow) blade, and it would become so weak that it would flex way too much.

If I was working more on harder materials like plastics, the edge would need to be much more robust because as you noted, otherwise it would fold over right away due to the very high forces used. I discussed this with Phil Wilson awhile back and he had came to a similar conclusion in regards to hardness after working with some low RC heat treats to look at edge aggression. He found that while the edges would hold up very well on soft materials they would roll far too quickly if the material was hard and you needed to lean into the cut. Personally I always have a number of "rough" blades that handle such tasks, so my "cutting" knives are very much optomized for soft materials. The rough blades are the blades on my Leatherman, SAK, Micra etc. . This multi-blade versatility is one of the reasons I have been looking into Stockman patterns as of late.

In regards to steeling, that is a great point that is often overlooked. Steeling does weaken the edge. JJ mentions this by warning not to over steel in his book on sharpening. But even careful steeling does weaken the edge. This is why in general I prefer stropping as it keeps the edge fresh. I have been using the Razor-Edge Mousetrap steel lately, and it, unlike rod steels, doesn't so heavily burr the edge, thus it should in *theory* give a longer lasting edge, with a longer overall life time (repeated sharpenings). I have not tested the latter out though. Anyone who has worked with the Mousetrap I would be interested to hear your opinions of it as compared to a simple smooth steel.

-Cliff

 

[chad234]

Cliff,
Thanks for the reply, I have gone away from stropping as I have found that it has some disadvantages: For my uses, stropping resulted in an overpolished edge, so that the gains in push cutting were too drasticly offset by the loss in slicing ability. I have found that a highly aligned edge straight from the hone (either ceramic or diamond) provides me with the best performance for what I use a knife for.
The only exception is that for some of my mora knives (frost's and Erikkson laminated #1 size) that I use strictly for wood work (carving walking sticks, practicing trap triggers, etc) I have found that stropping on a supported strop to a highly polished finish gives me the best performance (for those tasks).
Of course the level of polish is a factor mostly governed by the charging compound (I use either flitz or a combination of jewelers and white rouge on leather)and the amount of stropping done.
The other reason that I have strayed away from stropping is that I have found that even a small amount adds a slight convexity to the edge (rounding) which results in a loss of acuteness. I don't think this results in a direct amount of performance loss as the loss in acuteness is somewhat compensated by lowering the frictional co-efficient, so there is a smaller loss of performance and a gain in strength. This sounds great on paper, but I often like a very keen edge, so I strive for maximum cutting performance (which requires an acute edge bevel) and try to get strength from using higher end materials at higher levels of hardness.

I think that you are off on your comments on the BM710HS (especially since you haven't used one!!! ), I carry one as part of my usual EDC gear:

I have found that the 710 offers great slicing performance and the M2 steel offers an ideal combination of strength and tougness. I am able to run it with an edge bevel under 30 degrees included and still use it for hard use tasks with out worrying about dents or chipping. The ergonomics are excellent for my hand, it opens fast and locks solid, it carries well and has a secure grip. Basicly everything you could want in a folder.....

I have gotten away from liner locks since having styartewd using axis lock folders, the lock is excellent. The knife did require an extensive reprofiling (it came with an edge of about 55-60 degrees included and was very lopsided IIRC), however since then its performance ahs been flawless.


When I want a higher level of corrosion resistance I leave the 710HS and Opinel and substitute a CRK Sebenza. In either case I get a high performance bladeand a very strong, secure lock.

While I am not opposed to stockman slipjoints, for my uses I have found that a multi-knife system is better, where each knife is optimized (or nearly so) for specific tasks..... There are folders which combine high strength locks and high performance blades!!!!

 

[chad234]

Two more comments (I won't tell you where I was when I thought of them )

1. The full size Spyderco Calypso is another folder that provides a very high level of performance and has a strong, stable lock. I have found the lockback on my Calypso to engage very solidly and would trust it much more than a liner lock. The thinner stock, full flat grind and VG10 steel combine to offer a very high level of cutting performance.

2. In regards to steeling (burnishing): I find that a fine ceramic rod provides the best means for me to do so, it realigns the edge and removes a small amount of steel and exposes fresh carbides. I realize the slight wear this causes will decrease the lifespan of a cutting implement, but I haven't worn out a knife yet....
As an example of what I mean by steeling weakening metal: I used a smooth kitchen steel (not grooved) to align the edge on an ontario machete this summer while clearing out a fair amount of brush, some of it up to large sapling size. After two days of constant steeling and no honing the edge was sharp but while cutting some thicker branches I experienced blow out in the edge (visible chunks of metal being lost), this is normally the oppossite of what I would expect to see as the 1095 is heat treated very soft and I'd expect to see denting and impactation, not metal loss. Why did this happen: If I had to guess from microscopic stress fractures in the metal.

3. I think that edge alignment is THE most critical factor in cutting performance. I can take a thin highly aligned edge at a very course level of finish (DMT x-course black stones) and still shave arm hair (not merely scrape) and pushcut newspaper, and of course get great slicing ability.
An edge that is even slightly deformed, however, takes an instant loss of cutting performance both in regards to push cuts and slicing.
This really emphasizes the need for keeping consitant angle during sharpening, and for me visual inspection under 10X magnification. It also shows the advantage of using high strength modern alloys at high level of hardness (as seen in CRK's heat treatment of its BG42), a knife with a small chip in an isolated portion of the edge will still outcut (by a large margin) a knife with a larger portion of its edge deformed. When I see (or feel in most cases) chipping it is usually very localized damage, but when I see a deformed edge a much larger area is usually in question.


Stay sharp,
Chad

 

[GREENJACKET]

Drat, I shouldn't have read this post as I'm in a hurry.

I do strop my CR Projects to get a moran/convex edge, but then I often give a few white ceramic strokes to add some bite to the actual edge.

For steeling I almost always use a white, finest, ceramic rod. I've also yet too wear out a knife to the point where its no longer useful. I'll live with a little loss of steel, and prefer a little loss every time rather than a break off of a switching burr as can be found from hard smooth steeling.

For machete sized blades, I now use DMT diafolds as these blades invariably sustain damage to the point you may as well loose some metal every time you strop or sharpen.

Cliff, if you are generating that amount of heat to melt the plastic, aren't you throwing the heat treatment too?

I'm no fan of linerlocks though they do work ok on my leatherman wave, Benchmade Spike and Leopard Cub. My larger folders are all Backlocks; the best being the older style Al Mar Sere Attack and a Blackjack Marauder. Both tough knives.

It seems that Opinel has it about right as you can change things if you want. Cold Steel has tried to improve things by making a tougher knife, because Cold Steel knives have to be. Unfortunately this looses the whole point of the opinel style. All credit to Cold Steel for trying though.

Cliff, I think opinels bend rather than break. I think I can remember seeing an opinel with a buckled point It would be interesting to know if the Cold Steel snapped or bent also.

Cliff, off topic what experiance do you have of Strider Knives? e-me.